David Graeber was 59, not 51, when he died, according to Wikipedia.
After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
51–60 of 253 posts
Re: After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please do not suggest that one of the greatest minds of our era should have adopted the writing style of one of the greatest nitwits of our era.
First off, @pg actually started Hacker News and was instrumental to its long-term success. Second, @pg 10 years ago is not @pg today. People change, and while his latest essays many not be exceptional neither in style nor in content, texts like "What You'll Wish You'd Known" and "What You Can't Say" have been highly influential well outside SV or even US. P.S funnily, shortly after "What You'll Wish You'd Known" I sa…
Like I said.
Re: After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
#53Meh. I’ve seen a lot of these short essays about how after the pandemic we either should not or simply will not return to the status quo. It doesn’t really do anything to say “the economy doesn’t work” in 5 paragraphs and then say nothing else. Yes, lots of poor people are getting screwed. Some jobs don’t pay well despite the higher moral standing of directly assisting others. The environment looks pretty bad. But yo…
I agree. He writes about how we lived in a dream but for me what he writes is also a dream of some sort. Just stop doing our dream-work.. and then? What do I do to provide for my family? Should we all get a patch of land and grow food for ourselves? This idea does not seem realistic or scalable. But maybe I am just misunderstanding the essay or my thoughts are just not deep enough.
> Should we all get a patch of land and grow food for ourselves?
A lot of those types would loooove to see lots of people to go back to subsistence.
That is a lot of people but not them, they are way too smart for that and they’ll reluctangly agree to take the job of guiding lights for all those that went back to subsistence.
Re: After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
#54It's strange to see this upvoted on HN of all places. Some marxist inspired ramblings with no clear conclusion. Fact is that the free enterprise system works very well when you let it work and this is backed by a lot of empirical data.
I haven't noticed any Marxist rambling here. People have right to write their opinions, even if dreamful
Actually Marxists are the best. They tend to express somewhat coherent viewes as Marxism have quite strong philosophical roots. Lots of others are just “views”, that is a pile of incoherent whims that should be realized somehow.
Re: After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, if you can keep the people living in fear with the belief their government is the only answer then they will beg for subjugation.
Comment seems to forget that humans are naturally fearful, its not some conspiracy. Just human nature
Citation needed. Plus, even if it is natural, that's not an argument about it being a good thing
Re: After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
#56Wasn’t this guys book on bullshit jobs completely debunked? I mean yeah, filing TPS sheets might seem pointless on their own but in the grand scheme of things someone needs to checkboxes. It might be unglamorous work but it necessary for the whole system to function. We talk about productivity gains and why we still work 40 hour weeks and my answer is always this - you’re free to trade those productivity gains for fr…
How was the book on bullshit jobs debunked?
The idea is that many jobs do not contribute to "technology,healthcare,engineering, etc.", rather, salaries and work assignments are regulated to simply force people to spend most of their lives doing meaningless activities as a form of social control.
Even Ted Kaczynski talked about "surrogate activities".
Re: After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Anarchism can be capitalist Nope. That'd be neo-feudalism, as the super rich will be our defacto oppressive over lords. Anarchism is against oppression. There are market anarchists, they like markets but in no case they like unlimited wealth accumulation.
There is a significant school of thought literally called anarcho-capitalism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism
Nothing significant about that.
The name is simply internally contradictory: as those subscribing to it are okay with oppression by the super rich, it is not anarchism.
They advocate exclusively for property law, by which the super rich can "legitimately" hang on to their fortunes and thus power. While many of them advocate against laws like "age of consent".
Re: After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree. He writes about how we lived in a dream but for me what he writes is also a dream of some sort. Just stop doing our dream-work.. and then? What do I do to provide for my family? Should we all get a patch of land and grow food for ourselves? This idea does not seem realistic or scalable. But maybe I am just misunderstanding the essay or my thoughts are just not deep enough.
> Should we all get a patch of land and grow food for ourselves? A lot of those types would loooove to see lots of people to go back to subsistence. That is a lot of people but not them, they are way too smart for that and they’ll reluctangly agree to take the job of guiding lights for all those that went back to subsistence.
> A lot of those types would loooove to see lots of people to go back to subsistence.
You're right. But it's crucial to understand that they don't do it themselves. They don't live the lifestyle they advocate for others. They just imagine it to be romantic.
Re: After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree. He writes about how we lived in a dream but for me what he writes is also a dream of some sort. Just stop doing our dream-work.. and then? What do I do to provide for my family? Should we all get a patch of land and grow food for ourselves? This idea does not seem realistic or scalable. But maybe I am just misunderstanding the essay or my thoughts are just not deep enough.
> Should we all get a patch of land and grow food for ourselves? A lot of those types would loooove to see lots of people to go back to subsistence. That is a lot of people but not them, they are way too smart for that and they’ll reluctangly agree to take the job of guiding lights for all those that went back to subsistence.
Reminds me a lot of the meme of the intellectual advocating for communism thinking that they’ll have a nice cultural advisor job instead of either being shot by the thugs that seize power or forced to work 60 hours a week on a collective farm or in a shoe factory.
Re: After the pandemic, we can’t go back to sleep (2020)
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree. He writes about how we lived in a dream but for me what he writes is also a dream of some sort. Just stop doing our dream-work.. and then? What do I do to provide for my family? Should we all get a patch of land and grow food for ourselves? This idea does not seem realistic or scalable. But maybe I am just misunderstanding the essay or my thoughts are just not deep enough.
> Should we all get a patch of land and grow food for ourselves? A lot of those types would loooove to see lots of people to go back to subsistence. That is a lot of people but not them, they are way too smart for that and they’ll reluctangly agree to take the job of guiding lights for all those that went back to subsistence.
I mean, everyone should know how. Subsistence is incredibly rewarding.